It's no joke to toke: Medical marijuana is about health

The witty headlines last week about New Jersey’s legalization of medical marijuana masked an important fact: The legislation is the toughest in the nation in terms of regulation, and it could serve as a valuable model for the Keystone State.

The bill limits the growth and distribution of marijuana to six centers throughout New Jersey. In other words, forget growing marijuana in your backyard like some do in California.

The Garden State also wants to ban medical marijuana from most public places. Even if you have the required photo ID card to use it, you are prohibited from consuming it (in whatever form) anywhere on school grounds, public transport, in moving vehicles of any sort and anywhere smoking is banned.

Another departure from the norm is that New Jersey’s legislation spells out specifically the kinds of ailments marijuana can be prescribed for (such as multiple sclerosis, AIDS, cancer and Lou Gehrig’s disease), and that patients can get no more than two ounces a month.

The state is sending a clear message: This is for true medical situations and should be consumed in limited quantities in the home or medical facilities.

Since Pennsylvania’s hearing on medical marijuana in the state House last month, several developments have occurred that should make legislators who oppose legalization reconsider.

The first is the American Medical Association, the largest group of doctors in the United States, specifically called on the federal government to stop classifying marijuana as a “dangerous drug with no accepted medical use.”

While the group has not publicly supported all-out legalization, it has seen enough evidence to want to study marijuana’s uses. This is a strong signal from the medical community that the consensus is shifting.

The second is a Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvania’s attitudes on legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. The research shows that 59 percent of citizens in the state favor it compared with only 35 percent against, and it’s not just the young who want it. Support is strong among the over-55 crowd for the likely reason that they understand the need for chronic pain relief measures.

To be clear, The Patriot-News does not believe that the argument “everyone else is doing it, why not us?” is a valid reason to legalize medical marijuana.

As we said recently, the rationale to do this is for relief of chronic pain in limited medical circumstances.

Pennsylvania’s bill to legalize medical marijuana comes from Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia. While it does contain several regulatory provisions, his bill is not as harsh as New Jersey’s, and there are likely lessons to be learned from our neighbor.

This isn’t about getting high, it’s about health.

Opponents must stop visualizing teenage addicts taking advantage of it (which will be difficult in New Jersey) and think instead of ill Pennsylvanians (many elderly) who are suffering.